Using Nucleic Acids for Clinical Microbiology Testing

摘要

A process for analysing a biological sample, comprising the steps of: (a) identifying a micro-organism present within the sample; and (b) determining the effect of one or more antimicrobial(s) on a micro-organism from the sample, wherein steps (a) and (b) are performed by analysing the micro-organism's nucleic acid. Steps (a) and (b) will generally occur in that order, but they may take place concurrently. The steps may advantageously be performed within a single apparatus. Conveniently, the nucleic acid analyte used for step (a) is the same as that used in step (b) e.g. the same PCR amplicon. A micro-organism's nucleic acids can thus be used both to identify the presence of the micro-organism within a sample and then to assess the effect of antimicrobials on its growth.